US-Morocco Military Drills Near Algeria Spark Tension, Rival Exercises

Just days before the start of African Lion 2022 scheduled for June 20, fear seems to be gripping the Algerian army. On Monday, the Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army (ANP), Said Chengriha supervised in the evening a tactical military exercise with live ammunition in the Tindouf region. In front of his troops from the 3rd military region, he declared that sophisticated weapons are not enough to establish the strength of an army, reports Al Ahdath. According to the army corps general, its effectiveness lies in the psychic and physical abilities of the combatant.

Based on the statements of the Algerian Ministry of Defense’s Secretary General, the Spanish media report that this exercise of the Algerian army took place a few kilometers from the border with Morocco and would aim to train officers in joint operations in order to face any eventuality.

African Lion 2022 will take place from June 20 to July 1 in Kenitra, Agadir, Taroudant, Tan Tan and Mahbès. The latter is a locality located 40 kilometers from the Tindouf camps and a few kilometers from the eastern borders of Morocco. The exercise will be "multinational, multi-domain and multifunctional, with the objective of developing technical and procedural interoperability between the FAR and the forces of the participating countries as well as training on the planning and conduct of joint operations in a multinational framework," the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) said in a statement.